Suspensories



y 1959 M. F. DOUGHERTY 8 SUSPENSORIES Filed May 10, 1957 5 7 INVENTORM/b/me/ F Douyberfy BY ang I ATTORNEY form a shaped pocket. stitched tothe fabric, and the device is complete.

United States Patent 2,888,014 SUSPENSORIES Michael F. Daugherty, Paul,Application May 10, 1957, Serial No. 658,469

8 Claims. (Cl. 128-158) 1 difficulties lies in the fact that it isusually troublesome to remove the penis when necessary. Some of thesuspensories are equipped with openings through which this organ mayextend. However, it is usually simpler to move the entire suspensory toone side, a task which is not always simple.

The difiiculties are emphasized when the suspensory is used to contain apad of absorbent material. The suspensory is made bulkier by theaddition of the pad, makiiig the structure less adaptable to change inposition. Furthermore, most suspensories are so constructed that theentire apparatus must often be removed if and when the pad is to bechanged.

An object of the present invention lies in the provision of a suspensorywhich avoids most of the former 'ditficulties experienced with devicesof this type. My suspensory comprisesa thin, light weight fabric pocketwhich is' suppor't'ed by three straps. Two of these strapsj'are legencircling straps, and aresecured to the pocket along a line ofconnection which is very substantially spaced from the upper edge of thesame.' The third strap comprises a waist encircling strap, and isconnected to the upper edge of the body of the device. As a result ofthis construction, by drawing downwardly the ends of the waistencircling strap, the entire upper portion of the suspensory may befolded downwardly to gain access to the interior.

A feature of the present invention lies. in the simplicity ofconstruction of my suspensory. The suspensory pocket is formed of twosmall sections of fabric sewed together to The three supporting strapsare A feature of the present invention lies in the fact that mysuspensory may be partially opened while still acting as a support forthe scrotum. The leg surrounding straps are so connected as to form acontinuous support for the lower, or scrotum supporting, portion of thedevice. The waist supporting strap merely holds the upper portion of thesuspensory against the body. As a result of the arrangement described,the waist encircling strap may be very lightweight elastic, adding tothe comfort of the wearer, and making the upper portion of the devicemore easily folded down.

The ease with which an absorbent pad, such as those used in the event ofcertain urinary infections, may be supported and changed is also anadvantage of my suspensory. The upper portion of the suspensory may bemerely folded down, or pulled away from the body, to remove, replace, orinsert such a pad. This is made posp 2 v sible by the fact that thewaist encircling band is the only band connected to the upper portion ofthe pocket.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the followingspecification andclaims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification: Figure l is adiagrammatic frontelevation view of my suspensory as it would appear inuse. 1

Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the suspensory. Figure 3 is asectional view of the suspensory, the position of the section beingindicated by the line 3--3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a view similar toFigure 2, showing th upper portion of the suspensory pocketfolded open.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of one of the mem-,

bers of which the suspensory pocket is formed.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the other of the members of which thepocket is formed.

The suspensory is indicated in general by the letter A and includes asuspensory pocket 10, preferably made of light weight washable fabric,and three supporting straps attached to the pocket 10. The upper portionof the pocket is supported by a waist encircling band 11, while thelower portion of the pocket is supported by leg encircling straps orbands 12 and 13.

The body portion, or pocket 10, is formed of the two sections bestillustrated in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings. The upper section 14,shown in Figure 5, is a generally T-shaped structure, having atransversely extending band 15, and adow-nwardly extending centralportion 16. This central portion 16 is provided with an arcuate loweredge 17. p

As details of the arrangement show, the marginal ends 19 and 20 of thecross member 15 are folded or doubled along fold lines 21 and 22 toprovide a finished edge. A somewhat larger hem is formed along the upperedge of the cross member 15 by folding the upper edge portion 23 alongthe transverse fold line 24. The marginal edge of the downwardlyextending portion 16, includin'g the arcuate lower edge 17, is alsofolded inwardly to provide a hemmed edge, the line of fold beingindicated at 25 and the folded edge being indicated at 26. These detailsare, of course, relatively unimportant.

The lower section of the pocket is indicated in Figure 6 by the numeral27. This lower section is generally V- shaped in form, including a pairof diverging arms 29 and 30 separatedby a curved notch 31. The radius ofcurvature of the notch 31 is materially greater than that of the roundededge 17 of the top portion 14, and the length of the upper edge ornotched edge 31 is approximately the length of the downwardly extendingportion 16 of the upper part 14, as these edges are connected.

The outer edges 32 and 33 of the arms 29. and 30 are somewhat rounded,"and are joined by a straight portion 34 between these arms. The outermargins 32 and 33 of the arms are hemmed along fold lines 35 and 36, anda similar hem is formed along the straight edge 34 along the fold line37. The extremities 39 and 40 of the arms 29 and 30, which are generallyat right angles to the edges of the arms, are also hemmed along the foldlines 41 and 42.

As is evident from the drawings, the notched edge 31 of the lower pocketportion 27 is marginally connected to the hemmed edge of the downwardlyextending portion 16 of the top portion 14 of the pocket. Theextremities 39 and 40 of the arms 29 and 30 are attached to the loweredges of the cross member 15 of the top and 46 connects the ends of thearms 2? and to the cross member 15.

The ends 47 and 49 of the waist encircling strap or band 11 is stitchedor otherwise secured to the upper edge of the cross member 15, to extendtherefrom in a direction substantially flush with the outer ends of thiscross member. The band is preferably made of light elastic tape, and isprovided with an adjustment and fastening buckle 50. When attached inthe manner described, the band 11 extends upwardly and around the bodyas best indicated in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The leg encircling bands are also made of material such as elastic tape,and include adjustment and attachment buckles 51 and 52, respectively.The band 12 is stitched or otherwise secured to extend along a portionof the outer marginal edge 32 of the arm 29, from the straight portion34 to a point spaced from the extremity 39 thereof. When the suspensoryis in use, the portion of the arm attached in surface contact with theband 12 folds relatively to the remainder of the suspensory to hold thepocket margin against the surface of the leg.

The band 13 is similarly stitched or otherwise secured to the arm 30 ofthe lower section 27, to extend in surface contact with an outermarginal portion of this arm 30 from the straight portion 34 to a pointspaced from the arm extremity 40. The attached portion of the arm foldswith the band 13 when in use, holding the pocket against the leg.

The manner in which the suspensory A is used is believed obvious fromthe foregoing description. When the leg encircling straps l2 and 13 arein place, they hold the side marginal portions of the pocket to whichthey are attached against the surface of the legs, supporting the entirelower portion of the pocket to a point about midway or slightly abovethe vertical center of the pocket. The waist encircling band 11 merelyholds the upper portion of the pocket against the body. As a result,this upper portion of the pocket may be readily folded downwardly as inFigure 4, whenever access to the interior of the pocket is desired.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my suspensory, and while I haveendeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have itunderstood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of thefollowing claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A suspensory including a suspensory pocket including a pair of pocketforming members, one of said members comprising a top member generallyT-shaped in form and having a rounded lower edge, and a bottom memberforming the other of said members, said bottom forming member beingsecured marginally to the downwardly projecting portion of the uppermember and to the lower edge of the transversely extending part of thetop member to extend rearwardly therefrom, a pair of leg encirclingbands connected to said bottom forming member on opposite sides ofcenter thereof, each such "-i band being connected to said bottomforming member at the rear edge thereof and at a point near the juncturebetween the bottom forming member and the transversely extending portionof the top member.

2. The structure of claim 1 and in which each leg en circling bandextends in surface contact with a marginal portion of the bottom formingmember between its points of connection therewith.

3. The structure of claim 1 and including a waist encircling bandconnected to opposite lateral ends of said transversely extendingportion of said top member.

4. A suspensory including a suspensory pocket made of two members, oneof said members comprising a T- shaped member having a transverselyextending top portion and a central downwardly extended portion thereonhaving a rounded lower edge, the other of said members comprising agenerally V-shaped structure including a pair of diverging armsseparated by a rounded notch having a radius of curvature substantiallygreater than that of the rounded lower end of said one member, meansconnecting the edges of said arms defined by said notch to the marginaledges of said downwardly extending portion of said one member andconnecting the ends of said arms to the lower edges of said transverselyextending top portion, a pair of leg encircling bands connected onopposite sides of center to said other member, each band being connectedto a corresponding arm at a point spaced from the apex of the V and at apoint near the arm extremity, and a Waist encircling band connected toopposite ends of the transversely extending portion of said one memberat the top edge thereof.

5. The structure of claim 4 and in which each leg encircling bandextends in surface contact with an outer marginal edge portion of itsrespective arm between said points of connection.

6. The structure of claim 5 and in which the ends of the waistencircling band is secured to extend upwardly from the opposite sideedges of said pocket.

7. A suspensory including a suspensory pocket having downwardly andinwardly curving side edges and a generally straight upper edge, a legencircling band secured to said pocket on each side of center thereof,each leg encircling band secured extending along the curved side edgeand in surface contact thereto from a point near the bottom center ofthe pocket to a point spaced substantially from the upper edge of thepocket, whereby a portion of each pocket side follows the contour of theleg when the suspensory is worn, and a Waist encircling band secured tothe upper edge of the pocket adjacent opposite side edges thereof.

8. The structure of claim 7 and including a substantially straight loweredge connecting said curved side edges.

Bauer June 18, 1912 Fine Nov. 12, 1918

